5 Most Obscure Mortal Kombat Characters

One of the hallmarks of Mortal Kombat, especially when the series moved to 3D, is that it has a massive character roster. The developers at Netherrealm Studios have given fans dozens of great characters to fight over the years, but with such a huge roster to pull from, many characters have been forgotten over time. Sometimes, that’s on purpose, as Netherrealm and the community have made it clear they don’t like those characters, but others are a little more puzzling.

Here are five of the most obscure characters in Mortal Kombat history.

5) Kai

Kai made his big debut in Mortal Kombat 4. Like Liu Kang, he is a Shaolin monk who has access to fire powers. He’s a bit quicker than Liu Kang, but one of the reasons he’s largely fallen by the wayside is that Netherrealm already has one fire-user from White Lotus Society. Kai wasn’t able to break out and create his own path before being tossed to the heap of cameos.

He is still on the development team’s mind to some degree. Kai has appeared in MKX, MK11, and MK1. Granted, those roles aren’t very substantial, but there’s an outside chance he pops back up at some point. If nothing else, it’d be fun to have him back to see what Netherrealm would do with a character who uses a handstand as part of his moveset.

4) Taven

Taven’s first appearance was as the main character in the Konquest mode of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. That game led to a big reset in the series’ timeline, but his battle against his brother Daegon made for an intriguing story, even if Netherrealm didn’t quite knock it out of the park.

He’s another fire-user, but as a half-god, his moveset stretches far beyond the element. Unfortunately for Taven fans, Armageddon is the only game he’s been playable in. We have seen glimpses of him in the last few Mortal Kombat games, but those fleeting appearances mostly seem like Netherrealm making jokes at his expense.

3) Dairou

Dairou made his debut in Mortal Kombat: Deception, using his stealth abilities to strike fear into the hearts of his opponents. His tricky moveset includes the ability to switch places with his opponent, which can be handy when you’re backed up against a death trap.

Interestingly, he was going to be in Deadly Alliance, but didn’t make the final cut. That pushed his debut to Deception. Since then, he’s had a bit of a weird path. In Mortal Kombat 1, Havik had his backstory extended, revealing that his name was originally Dairou and, like this Dairou, he was a member of Seido. It’s confusing because Havik is not this Dairou, at least not as we understand it so far. Maybe they’ll continue to play with the timeline in the future, but for now, Dairou fans have been left out to dry.

2) Kobra

Kobra also got his start in Mortal Kombat: Deception. He’s recruited by Kabal for the Black Dragon clan and uses his street brawling fighting style to intimidate smaller opponents. Funnily enough, Kobra’s placeholder name during development was Ken Masters due to how much he looks like that Street Fighter character.

He was also playable in Unchained and Armageddon, but disappeared for several years after that. In fact, his inclusion in Mortal Kombat 1 is only a technicality. He isn’t playable as a normal fighter or a Kameo Fighter. Instead, he and Kira are accomplices of Ghostface, one of the DLC fighters you can buy. That said, he does appear in Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind, one of the animated films Warner Bros. has put out over the last few years.

1) Hsu Hao

Boootleg Kano made his first appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. The Mongolian grappler does have a rad Fatality, thanks to his laser heart, but quickly became one of the least popular characters in the franchise’s history with the fanbase and developers alike.

In fact, developer John Vogel has said a few times that it is canon when Hsu Hao dies in Jax’s Deadly Alliance ending. Unfortunately for Vogel, Armageddon brought back everybody, so he had to come back. Still, even in Hsu Hao’s own ending in that game, he dies. Vogel wanted to make sure he wasn’t coming back.

That’s not technically true, as Erron Black is carrying his severed head in Mortal Kombat 11. It’s pretty safe to say that, of all the characters on this list, Hsu Hao is the one who is never coming back in any real capacity. You could see anyone else jumping in as a Kameo Fighter or side character, but even Netherrealm hates this guy.

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